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FC Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano opens up about his life both on and off the field in an exclusive interview to the Club’s official media channels that will be released in its entirety on Friday (free registration required).

The 32-year-old Argentine, who has 186 appearances since joining the Catalan club in 2010, has long been one of the team’s leaders in the locker room, along with his friend and compatriot, Leo Messi.

If there were any doubt as to Mascherano’s influence in the blaugrana dressing room, one need look no further than the prologue of his new book, The 15 Rungs of Leadership, in which Messi himself calls Mascherano “a very positive leader.”

“He teaches you many things,” Messi said. “All the time. He’s always thinking of his friends. He’s a fighter. It’s impossible to not follow his lead when you have a captain who is first in effort, who runs more than the rest, and who is the best example of how it should be done.”

The exclusive video interview coincides with Mascherano’s appearance on the cover of Barça Magazine, the bilingual — it is published in Catalan and Spanish only — and bi-monthly publication for Club members.

The magazine’s February issue also includes special reports about the FCB Coaches Academy and six of the women’s team’s longest tenured player, as well as an interview with Hiroshi Mikitani, the Founder and President of Rakuten, the Japanese online retailer that will be FC Barcelona’s main global sponsor beginning next season.